BALTIMORE, Md. (May 10, 2019)-The postseason awards continue to come in for Morgan State senior outfielder Damali Young, who on Thursday was named to the All-Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCU) Division I First Team. Earlier in the week, she was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Player of the Year.

This is the second HBCU Softball honor for Young, who last season was named to the second team.

A preseason MEAC Player of the Year selection, Young was instrumental in leading the Lady Bears to the program's third straight 20-plus win season (22-24) and a second-place finish in the MEAC Northern Division at 10-4. 

The Westampton, N.J. native, was an offensive machine for the Lady Bears in her final season in the orange and blue, helping the Lady Bears end the season on a season-best six-game winning streak, while winning 14 of their last 17 contests. She started all 46 games, leading the team in at bats (140), runs (47), hits (49), triples (4), total bases (79), walks (28) and stolen bases with 31 out of 33 attempts. Defensively, she recorded a .964 fielding percentage with 73 putouts in the outfield.

She was in the top five in the MEAC in slugging percentage (.564), on base percentage (.462), runs scored (47), hits (49), total bases (79), triples (4), walks (28) and stolen bases (31). Nationally, Young ranks 36^th in runs per game, 14^th in stolen bases, and 69^th in walks.  

Young would break four school records this season and tied another one. She would became the school's career leader in runs scored (150) with her second of four runs in Game 2 against Cornell (4/2); set the career walks mark with 61 at Towson (4/3); set the single-season walks mark of 24 at Howard (4/13); set the school's all-time hits record (172) with a bunt single in the fifth inning against Delaware State (4/7) and tied the single-season runs scored record with 47, scoring a total of three runs in the season finale doubleheader against Rider.

In all, Young would end her career at Morgan State as the school's leader in 10 categories, including single-season hits (63), single-season doubles (16), single-season at bats (154), single-season stolen bases (40) and career stolen bases (119). 

Joining Young on the HBCU Softball first team are pitchers Alexis Bermudez (Bethune-Cookman) and Crystal Castillo (Prairie View A&M), catcher Kylee Lopez (Norfolk State), first baseman Cayla Brown (Coppin State), second baseman Jasmine Melgoza (Delaware State), third baseman Dalika Wallace (North Carolina Central), shortstop Tamia Lee-Barbadillo (Alabama A&M), outfielders Taylor Warrick (Hampton) and Alexis Sydnor (Alabama State), designated player Charlene Castro (Alabama State) and utility player Olivia Daniel (North Carolina Central).

The second team consisted of pitchers Destiny Ricks (Texas Southern) and Kyaria Brown (Florida A&M), catcher Danielle Hansell (Alabama A&M), first baseman Laurisa Hernandez (Prairie View A&M), second baseman Kalita Dennis (Howard), third baseman Amari Ramsey (Alcorn State), shortstop Jacki Smith (Bethune-Cookman), outfielders Shelby DesChamps (Norfolk State), Alexis Day (Florida A&M) and Shelby Williams (Prairie View A&M), designated player Rikkelle Miller (Grambling State) and utility player Janae Lyles (Hampton).